But based on the recent Supreme Court ruling—greatly weakening the design patent damages clause of the Patent Statute—Apple is in jeopardy of losing most of the $400 million damage award it had achieved against Samsung Electronics Inc.

There may be no clear winners once the dust settles on a patent interference case involving two marquee research universities and billions of dollars in licensing fees tied to a revolutionary gene-editing tool.

Rather than analyzing whether a defendant’s infringement of a trademark has been malicious or willful, or whether a plaintiff’s claim has been pursued in bad faith, district courts in the Ninth Circuit are required to consider the totality of the circumstances in determining whether a case is “exceptional.”

IP attorneys and corporate executives can take action to streamline the disclosure process, maximizing its efficiency and transparency so inventors can spend more time doing what they do best: creating and developing ideas that will ultimately benefit their employers.